For All Time

Dancing Machine

The year was now 1974. The Jacksons were pretty settled into their home by now, and some family members had even moved out.

The Jackson 5 were also enjoying the success of their latest single 'Dancing Machine'. Although they had the routine down, the boys still put countless hours in the dance studio. And if all of the boys weren't rehearsing, Michael was.

Michael put on a brave face, but he was tired of having the same old sound. Berry (Gordy) Tried to give him some kind of control with how he recorded his vocals, but it wasn't enough. It was like that since he could remember—The recording process. By the time he and his brothers entered the studio for the session, the instrumental was already recorded, and the song was already mapped out. Part-by-part, They were taught the song and Then they'd record it; Michael was tired of it.

He felt a fire awakening within him—a yearning for creative control. He knew he and his brothers had so much to offer, and they were becoming men now. They should be able to control what they wanted to get across to their aufience—especially the girls. Girls, speaking of girls, Latoya was having a sleep-over tonight, right?

That's right! Ebony and a few of the Jackson's cousins were supposed to come over to celebrate Latoya's 18th birthday. How could he forget? Marlon and himself were already devising a olan to terrorize the girls on their night of relaxation. He knew they'd be painting their nails and gossiping, and they wanted in. Besides, Marlon had a crush on one of Latoya's friends—Trisha.

Trisha was what they called a Brick House. She was stacked, and I mean, STACKED. All the guys liked her, all the guys but Michael. Michael wasn't interested in her because she seemed like she gave too much attention to too many guys. He wanted a woman to just be for him, and she seemed to like whoever liked her. Michael tried to bring his sentiments to Marlon's attention, but was rewarded with a sly 'I know'. Michael shook his head. He couldn't understand why his brother liked fast girls. He didn't know what Latoya was up to, and he really didn't want to know. Oh wait! There was a ring at the door!